Coulter-knife blade assembly



Dec. 20, 1966 D, A, CLA K 3,292,562

COULTERKNIFE BLADE ASSEMBLY Filed July 9, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet lINVENTOR. DAV/D A. CLARK ATTORNEY Dec. 20, 1966 D. A. CLARK 3,292,562

CQULTER-KNIFE BLADE ASSEMBLY Filed July 9, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet z GET/ 25.

I A g y; /2 a s A Q A as i 4 25 s 1 g I 17 INVENTOR. DAVID A. CLARKATTORNEY United States Patent Ofitice 3,292,562 Patented Dec. 20, 19663,292,562 COULTER-KNIFE BLADE ASSEMBLY David A. Clark, 1228 ForestDrive, Sand Springs, Okla. 74063 Filed July 9, 1965, Ser. No. 470,775 7Claims. (Cl. 111-7) This invention relates to a new and improvedcoulterknife blade assembly which has novel features incorporatedtherein useful for the application of agricultural fertilizers into thesoil. This coulter-knife blade assembly is used in combination with atool bar clamp which is that part of the framing and structuresupporting the supply tank of liquid and gaseous fertilizer.

A review of the prior art discloses one type of a unit which deals withthe problem of applying fertilizer is a coulter-knife blade assemblyequipped with a spring attachment. This spring-loaded type ofcoulter-knife blade assembly permits free vertical movement of theassembly allowing the coulter-knife blade assembly to freely raise andlower. The direction of the motion of the assembly would depend on thetexture of the soil as the fertilizing equipment passes over theterrain. The principal disadvantage in using this type of coulter is, ifthe coulter strikes a hard section of soil, the entire structure,including the tube which feeds the gaseous or liquid fertilizer into theground is raised out of the ground. This releases fertilizer into theatmosphere instead of placing it into the ground. This is a decideddisadvantage since much of the fertilizing material is wasted in usingthis type of coulterknife blade assembly. Still another disadvantage isthat due to the pressure of the spring bearing on the springloadedcoulters, at times it goes too deeply into the ground when the groundtexture is soft. This results in improper feeding of the ground at otherthan the desirable level.

There are other types of units which use a solid steel member whichvetrically extends down from the tool bar and connects directly to thesupport structure making the coulter-knife blade assembly completelyrigid. However, these units do not have any safety protecting device toprevent damage when striking hard objetcs. This results in the equipmentbeing bent out of shape and disabled. The various defective featureswhich have been described aboveare not present in my invention.

The object of this invention is to provide a means for preventing damageto a coulter-knife blade assembly when the coulter strikes a hard objectin the ground surface and to maintain the proper pre-set level offertilizing in the ground.

Another object of this invention is to provide a coulter assemblyincluding swivel means attachably mounted to the tool bar clamp usefulfor mounting the coulter assembly.

Another object of this invention is to provide adjustable means foraligning the coulter and the knife-blade, including adjustable scrapermeans for removing excessive earth from the surface of the coulter.

And still another feature of this coulter assembly is the horizontal andvertical adjustable knife-blade in the assembly.

The features which will be set forth in my invention combine a pre-setlevel of applying fertilizers in the soil and yet give protectionagainst destruction of the equipment by incorporating a shear bolt inthe structure which is sufficiently strong to allow ideal operation ofthe coulter-knife blade assembly and yet will shear when thecoulter-knife assembly strikes an immovable object. The incorporation ofthis new feature prevents damage to the equipment.

The preferred embodiment of this invention includes plates and bolts forattaching the coulter-knife blade assembly to the tool bar assembly.However, other means for attaching the coulter-knife assembly, such asattaching to a diamond bar by using an inverted W are considered withinthe scope of this invention. This can be used in place of the plates andbolts as shown in FIGURE 1. Other types of similar attaching means areconsidered to be within the scope of this invention.

FIGURE 1 illustrates the complete coulter-knife blade assembly attachedto a tool bar clamp.

FIGURE 2 illustrates the coulter-knife blade assembly in a hingedposition with the shear bolt lock in a tripped position.

FIGURE 3 illustrates a sectional view of the coulterknife blade assemblyshowing the tubular section of the vertical spindle attaching thecoulter-knife blade assembly to the tool bar clamp.

FIGURE 4 illustrates a sectional view of the scrapers which are used inconjunction with the coulter blade.

FIGURE 5 illustrates a sectional view of the guides which set the knifeblade either up or down, forward or backward.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, the coulter-knife blade assembly consists ofthe following components: two steel plates 1, complete with bolts forattaching to a tool bar; directly under the above-mentioned steel plate1 as illustrated and attached to a bearing plate 3 is one end of asection of mild structural steel tubing 2 while the other end of themild steel tubular section is attached to the steel plate 1. Steel plate3 is equipped with two stops 4, one on each forward corner of the plate.Fitted directly over the tubular section 2 and under a ring 5 welded tothe first tubular section is a second tubular section 6. This section 6is positioned so as to rotate freely around the first section 2.Attached to section 6 by means of flange plates 7 is the supportingframe 8 for the coulter and knife blade. The support frame is attachedto the flanges 7 by two shear bolts and a pivot pin 9. The upper pivotpin 9 passes through plate 7 as shown in FIGURE 1 and is welded to thesupport frame 8. Sutficient clearance is allowed in plates 7 so that thesupporting frame 8 can rise vertically, the pivot pin 9 acting as ahinge for the support frame 8. To make the support frame rigidlyattached to the flanges 7, two bolts 10 which I shall call shear boltsare placed through both the flange sections 7 and the supporting frame8. The purpose of the shear bolts is twofold-first, to rigidly attachedthe support framing 8 to the flanges 7 and the tubular section 6, andsecondly, to be a safety device which shears and allows thecoulter-knife blade assembly to rise freely in case the coulter or knifestrikes a hard object in the structure of the ground. From the tubularstructure, the support framing 8 extends backwardly forming an obtuseangle with the tubular section 2. The angle at which the support framing8 is in relationship to the tubular section 2 is not critical as thisangle can be altered for ideal operation of the coulterknife bladeassembly to allow for fertilizing at an ideal level. The main supportframing should be sufliciently high enough so that the coulter can rolltrash down rather than push it with the front of the frame. Attached tothe support framing 8 is an axle support member 18 in the form of aU-shaped plate. This axle support member is welded to the supportassembly 8 and furnishes support for the coulter 11 and the scraperblades 12 as shown in FIGURE 1. The upper part of the axle supportmember also is fitted with two bolts for adjusting the angle ofincidence with the coulter-blade surface. The lower side members of theaxle support member have means for inserting the axle upon which thecoulter rotates in a ballbearing assembly. This ball-bearing assemblyhas a set collar adjustment 19 on both sides for easy centering of thecoulter-blade in alignment with the knife blade 13 which moves inchannel equipped holders 14. The main assembly support framing plates 8which are spaced with sufiicient clearance to prevent trash accumulatingin the framing extend with a slight bend inwardly as shown in FIGURE 1to form substantially parallel fiat members with adjustable slots formounting the channel equipped holders 14. Mounted between the channelequipped holders 14 is the metal knife blade 13 which has previouslybeen hard-surfaced. Tubing for carrying the fertilizer is welded on theback side. The metal knife blade supports or holders 14 are constructedwith a channel on the inside face for the knife blade so that the knifeblade can move up and down easily. The positioning of the knife 13 inrelation to the coulter 11 is possible through adjustable bolts 15.

The novel features of this coulter-knife blade assembly are numerous.The tubular section with the swivel action affords movement of thecoulter-knife blade assembly when the fertilizing unit is moving fromone line of operation into another direction. This feature incombination with the other new features in this invention are unique infertilizing equipment. The feature showing the hinged assemblyof'attaching the main support assembly for the coulter-knife bladeassembly is novel and permits the assembly to raise out of the groundwhen hard areas are encountered. This feature prevents damage to thecoulter-knife blade assembly. The main support structure itself isimproved having larger clearances between the coulter itself and thesides of the main support structure. The assembly means which supportsthe scraping blades for removing excessive dirt is unique and preventsbuild-up on the coulter itself. The means for aligning the coulter andthe knife described in the preceding paragraphs increases the efiiciencyof the unit and improves the effective application of the fertilizerbeing distributed into the soil.

Operation and adjustment the coulter-knife blade assembly To attach thecoulter-knife blade assembly to the tool bar 16, simply loosen theboltsholding the plates 1, slip the plate assembly over the tool bar andtighten sufiiciently to secure the apparatus tightly. To adjust thescraper blades 12 loosen the nuts on the top side of the axle supportmeans 9 and adjust the angle to a suitable clearance between thescrapers andthe coulter blade so that the justments are made by movingthe knife up or down, forward or backward after the bolts 15 areloosened. The bolts should be tightened securely after the properadjustments are made. The coulter-knife blade assembly is now ready foruse.

Another of the advantages which are offered by my invention is theability to work through heavy trash areas. Heretofore, with the standardasesmbly now in use, it has been difficult to work through an areacontaining heavy trash. Tests have also proven that approximately onlyone-half the horsepower requirements of the standard assemblies now inuse are required to operate my coulterknife blade assembly. Stillanother advantage is theexceptional versatility in hill-side applicationof liquid or gaseous fertilizers. Standard machinery tends to driftdownward while the coulter-knife blade assembly disclosed remains inplace. The reason that such an outs andi g ratiqn has b noted i thi typet fer izetion is due to the swivel-caster action which has been fullydescribed in the previous paragraphs.

Another improvement noteworthy is the arrangement of the knife-bladeguide. With this innovation, the movement of the knife blade isprevented from swinging rearwardly. This affords a precise adjustmentbetween the coulter and the leading edge of the knife blade which willremain constant. This avoids a repeated adjusting of the knife blade. 7

Various embodiments of this invention in addition to what has beenillustrated and described can be employed without departing from thescope of the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A coulter-knife blade assembly for applying liquid or gaseousfertilizer into soil comprising a coulter, a knife blade, a tubularswivel, a plate frame consisting of two substantially parallel platesattached to the said tubular swivel by a pivot and a shearing bolt, aU-shaped support member for a spindle, the said coulter being rotatablymounted on the spindle under the said U-shaped support member attachedto the said frame, the said plate frame extending forwardly, attachingto the said tubular swivel and rearwardly to support the knife blade,means to attach the coulter-knife assembly to a tool bar attached to thetop end of the tubular swivel.

2. A coulter-knife blade assembly as shown in claim 1 where the knifeblade is mounted in a supporting channel which provides means foradjustably mounting the knife,

blade.

3. A coulter-knife blade assembly as shown in claim 1 with meansattached to the said U-shaped support member.

to remove the excessive dirt from the coulter surfaces.

4. A coulter-knife blade assembly as shown in claim 3 where the dirtremoving means is two adjustable cleaning blades.

5. A coulter-knife blade assembly as shown in claim 1 where adjustablemeans are provided on the spindle for laterally positioning the coulter.

6. A coulter-knife assembly as shown in claim 1 where the said means forattaching the coulter-knife assembly to the tool bar consists of twoplates with bolts for securing the coulter-knife assembly to the toolbar.

7. A coulter-knife blade assembly for applying liquid or gaseousfertilizer into soil surface comprising a coulter, an adjustable knifeblade directly behind the coulter and located between substantiallyparallel plates of a plate.

frame, means attached to the said knife blade to feed fertilizer intothe soil, the said coulter having a means for laterally adjusting theposition on a spindle rotatably mounted under a U-shaped member attached,to the supporting plate frame, the said supporting plate frame being.

suspended by a hinged pin and a shearing bolt passing through a pair ofsubstantially parallel plates attached to a tubular swivel mounted on aload bearing plate, the complete assembly being attached to a tool barby two bolted plates one of which is welded to the top of the tubularswivel.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,136,172 4/1915Scott 11l-7X 2,719,498 10/1955 Goolsby 11169 3,237,577 3/1966 Wilkins1117 ANTONIO F. GUIDA, Acting Primary Examiner.

BAGWILL, Examiner,

7. A COULTER-KNIFE BLADE ASSEMBLY FOR APPLYING LIQUID OR GASEOUSFERTILIZER INTO SOIL SURFACE COMPRISING A COULTER, AN ADJUSTABLE KNIFEBLADE DIRECTLY BEHIND THE COULTER AND LOCATED BETWEEN SUBSTANTIALLYPARALLEL PLATES OF THE PLATE FRAME, MEANS ATTACHED TO THE SAID KNIFEBLADE OF FEED FERTILIZER INTO THE SOIL, THE SAID COULTER HAVING A MEANSFOR LATERALLY ADJUSTING THE POSITION ON A SPINDLE ROTATABLY MOUNTEDUNDER A U-SHAPED MEMBER ATTACHED TO THE SUPPORTING PLATE FRAME, THE SAIDSUPPORTING PLATE FRAME BEING SUSPECTED BY A HINGED PIN AND A SHEATINGBLOT PASSING THROUGH A PAIR OF SUBATANTIALLY PARALLEL PLATES ATTACHED TOA TUBULAR SWIVEL MOUNTED ON A LOAD BEARING PLATE, THE COMPLETE ASSEMBLYBEING ATTACHED TO A TOOL BAR BY TWO BOLTED PLATES ONE OF WHICH IS WELDEDTO THE TOP OF THE TUBULAR SWIVEL.